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Shuhei Yoshida addresses PS4 Multiplayer Charges

A lot of questions are being asked by the fans on the caveats of the PlayStation Plus requirements for multiplayer with the upcoming PS4, and Sony Worldwide Studio President Shuhei Yoshida provided some straight answers as part of a wider interview on the Japanese gaming site Game Watch.

First of all Yoshida-san was very clear in reassuring customers that “multiplayer on PS3 and PS Vita will remain free of charge” as it is now, then he moved on to explain the reasons behind the move towards a required subscription model for the PS4.

We’re focusing on new services and online, like the “Share” button I previously mentioned and the ability to play using mobile devices with the cloud feature. Our plan is to continue to invest in the future, but investing like this is not compatible with our previous policy that involved reducing costs by every mean to keep the service free.

He also went as far as to apologize for placing an additional cost on the customers’ wallets:

I apologize for the financial burden on our users, but on PS4 it’ll also provide early access to beta versions, free games and discounts like on PS3 and PS Vita. In addition to that PS Plus members will receive for free a special edition with slightly reduced functions of DriveClub.

Interestingly enough he made sure to specify that not all online functions will be closed to those that will decide to opt-out from subscribing to the PS Plus services.

While direct competition in real time won’t be possible [without PS Plus] for instance in the case of DriveClub, asynchronous online gameplay and receiving data from other players will still be free of charge.

Finally, he was asked if players will need a PS Plus subscription to play MMORPGs like Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and The Elder Scrolls Online:

You will need it to enjoy online multiplayer.
This will also depend on the judgement by the publishers, and there will be some free to play titles that you’ll be able to play without needing a PS Plus subscription, like PlanetSide 2 and DC Universe Online.

I'm not amused Yoshida, I'm not amused at all! I do not buy for a second that the PSN infrastructure requires a subscription charge to break even, just as I never believed it about XBL. It's bull$#@!. The expensive thing about running online gaming are servers, and publishers do that. Directly financed by game sales.

People point to the fact that PS3 had dodgy online at times, but this was a software issue - the console was not designed as a truly online system.

However, Planetisde 2 not requiring a subscription is music to my ears and I hope other publishers are able to follow suit on that

also

While direct competition in real time won’t be possible [without PS Plus] for instance in the case of DriveClub, asynchronous online gameplay and receiving data from other players will still be free of charge.

I'm glad he clarified this, it was the biggest question I had. Looks like I can buy the console and enjoy the games as intended without subscribing

I'm not amused Yoshida, I'm not amused at all! I do not buy for a second that the PSN infrastructure requires a subscription charge to break even, just as I never believed it about XBL. It's bull$#@!. The expensive thing about running online gaming are servers, and publishers do that. Directly financed by game sales.

People point to the fact that PS3 had dodgy online at times, but this was a software issue - the console was not designed as a truly online system.

However, Planetisde 2 not requiring a subscription is music to my ears and I hope other publishers are able to follow suit on that

also
I'm glad he clarified this, it was the biggest question I had. Looks like I can buy the console and enjoy the games as intended without subscribing

LMAO, you really dont understand the cost of things do you? granted yes they are probably charging more then they need to, but being in the field.. its a lot of money to maintain the hardware.

LMAO, you really dont understand the cost of things do you? granted yes they are probably charging more then they need to, but being in the field.. its a lot of money to maintain the hardware.

A damn sight more than you, I'd bet

PSN pays for itself by ways of having a $#@!ing store that makes rather a lot of money for Sony. You know, just like every other online service that isn't Xbox Live. The only thing sadder than them pleading poverty like this is the people who believe that it's necessary.

PSN pays for itself by ways of having a $#@!ing store that makes rather a lot of money for Sony. You know, just like every other online service that isn't Xbox Live. The only thing sadder than them pleading poverty like this is the people who believe that it's necessary.

LMAO, what do you think it costs them to host all this information, to have servers dedicated for cross game chat? its not free, its actually really damn expensive... and i highly doubt you know more than I as i do this for a living. Why do you think live has always charged, because they couldn't have done it without charging and make money. Keep in mind, they are all in this to make money.... not for us.

I think the approach should have been what was rumored before, PS+ you get cross game chat, vs non you dont. I think some people are getting a little to bent out of shape about this whole internet thing. if you want to play online.. well guess what, no matter what you say/do... your going to have to pay

LMAO, what do you think it costs them to host all this information, to have servers dedicated for cross game chat? its not free, its actually really damn expensive... and i highly doubt you know more than I as i do this for a living. Why do you think live has always charged, because they couldn't have done it without charging and make money. Keep in mind, they are all in this to make money.... not for us.

I think the approach should have been what was rumored before, PS+ you get cross game chat, vs non you dont. I think some people are getting a little to bent out of shape about this whole internet thing. if you want to play online.. well guess what, no matter what you say/do... your going to have to pay

lol you don't need servers dedicated to cross game chat. They could chose to if they wanted like Ventrilo, but it's totally unnecessary. Oh but guess what... Ventrilo is free for up to 8 people....

Operational costs are not significant compared to the revenue you are making off the platform as a whole. Like I said, the way every other online gaming (and not just gaming) service operates, except XBL. Why do gamers try so hard to pretend these corporations are paupers? They don't need extra funds to support their bloody online service. Microsoft make a $#@! ton of profit from gold subscriptions.

Originally Posted by Univac

﻿﻿The cost of doing business should be reflected in the price of a product. Something integral to modern gaming like multiplayer (because today's player's apparently demand it tacked onto every type of game conceivable) should be included in the price. Tacit collusion in which businesses engage are cover they give to each other (other company charges, so should we in order for customer to value product or service). If gen x/y/millenials weren't so engaged with social, perhaps Sony wouldn't have felt compelled to upgrade their infrastructure to such an extent.

I'm not amused Yoshida, I'm not amused at all! I do not buy for a second that the PSN infrastructure requires a subscription charge to break even, just as I never believed it about XBL. It's bull$#@!. The expensive thing about running online gaming are servers, and publishers do that. Directly financed by game sales.

People point to the fact that PS3 had dodgy online at times, but this was a software issue - the console was not designed as a truly online system.

However, Planetisde 2 not requiring a subscription is music to my ears and I hope other publishers are able to follow suit on that

also
I'm glad he clarified this, it was the biggest question I had. Looks like I can buy the console and enjoy the games as intended without subscribing

XBL does not allow publishers to use their own servers- except for EA from what I've read (they threw an epic $#@! fit and MS caved). All servers are operated\owned by MS.

Don't get me wrong, I do not and have never viewed XBL as a "bargain" for what I pay. PSN, especially PS+, to me has always been of greater overall value (and I say the same for the PS3 as a machine vis a vis 360).

That being said, there can be little doubt that the reliability of PSN is not quite up to snuff compared to XBL. Microsoft is making a tidy profit off of its user base and Sony, like any company, wants a piece of that action if it can get away with it.

So long as they make it worth my while I'm willing to look past the issue. If PS+ is still as awesome as it is for me on PS3\PS Vita then its less of an issue since I'm already a subscriber. But having the option of NOT being a plus member and still doing competitive multiplayer would be a far better scenario.

This kind of change was, I suppose, inevitable.. Not happy about it. It was the only aspect of the PS4 reveal that was a buzz kill for me.

They'd better reaaaaaaaaally make it worth my money. Hell, Xbox Live finally clued in that free -real- content is kind of cool and are offering 2 free games per month.

Yeah PS+ is cheaper. Unless you do what I used to do which was let your account go Silver then go on their site and get the two months for two bucks. Then shut off auto pay. When your Gold expires then rinse and repeat. lol

Yeah PS+ is cheaper. Unless you do what I used to do which was let your account go Silver then go on their site and get the two months for two bucks. Then shut off auto pay. When your Gold expires then rinse and repeat. lol

Pretty much the same thing I did, except I had bookmarked one of their emails for 1 month for $1. Let my account lapse the pay $1 whenever I needed to use live. Hated how I had do disable auto renew every single time tho lol.

Originally Posted by Vulgotha

Edit: Isn't PS+ technically cheaper than XBL still?

Technically PS+ is cheaper since Live is "supposed" to be 59.99 but you can find 12 month subs online EVERYWHERE for 40-50 which is the same-less then what Sony is charging for PS+. Only deal I ever seen for PS+ is sometime around the 1 year mark since it inception, you will see on the PSN that Sony is offering an additional 3 months when you sub for a year.

Last edited by faaeng; 06-21-2013 at 05:57.

PCs are very much like Air Conditioners.
They both become utterly useless once you start to open up Windows....
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Yoshida did a good job at explaining everything. I understand that everyone would prefer free online multiplayer, but I think the outcry from some fans has been ridiculous. Playing online is a service that Sony offers and one that cost a lot of money to run, especially with all the upgrades and new features that will be on the PS4. I definitely understand a need to start charging for that service as much as we wish it would stay free.

While I'm personally disappointed that it's not staying free, I also understand the reasoning for their decision. The good thing Sony is doing is they are offering value for your Plus membership, way more than Xbox Live Gold ever has. They also thankfully aren't putting other services and apps behind a pay wall like Xbox does with Netflix. PSPlus is a great service and will only get better in the future, and I think gamers should be excited about getting access to it and the free games that come along with it. I mean I'm a poor college student, I know how awesome it's been not having to pay for multiplayer on the PS3, but I also understand that Sony is a business and that running an online service is very expensive, and so I am fine paying a little bit of money to use that service, especially with the value they give you in return.

I have found it so funny to see people get so upset about it though, like it's somehow their right to have a free multiplayer service, because that's exactly what it is, a service, and if Sony feels they need to charge for it then they can do that. The entitlement of gamers sometimes can be so ridiculous. I get the desire to have free multiplayer, I really do, but this is a necessary thing for Sony to take the next step in their online services. I'm just thankful that Sony realizes that asking someone to pay a fee is a big deal and therefore wants to make sure you get a great value for your money.

Yoshida did a good job at explaining everything. I understand that everyone would prefer free online multiplayer, but I think the outcry from some fans has been ridiculous. Playing online is a service that Sony offers and one that cost a lot of money to run, especially with all the upgrades and new features that will be on the PS4. I definitely understand a need to start charging for that service as much as we wish it would stay free. While I'm personally disappointed that it's not staying free, I also understand the reasoning for their decision. The good thing Sony is doing is they are offering value for your Plus membership, way more than Xbox Live Gold ever has. They also thankfully aren't putting other services and apps behind a pay wall like Xbox does with Netflix. PSPlus is a great service and will only get better in the future, and I think gamers should be excited about getting access to it and the free games that come along with it. I mean I'm a poor college student, I know how awesome it's been not having to pay for multiplayer on the PS3, but I also understand that Sony is a business and that running an online service is very expensive, and so I am fine paying a little bit of money to use that service, especially with the value they give you in return. I have found it so funny to see people get so upset about it though, like it's somehow their right to have a free multiplayer service, because that's exactly what it is, a service, and if Sony feels they need to charge for it then they can do that. The entitlement of gamers sometimes can be so ridiculous. I get the desire to have free multiplayer, I really do, but this is a necessary thing for Sony to take the next step in their online services. I'm just thankful that Sony realizes that asking someone to pay a fee is a big deal and therefore wants to make sure you get a great value for your money.

What he talked about is with the offline portion there's no difference from PS3 in that every game is playable on PS4. In terms of just getting access of multiplayer online, it's now taken care of at a platform level by PS Plus. So our first party titles had the online pass on PS3 and Vita. That we are not doing on PS4 because of that platform level. It's the same for third parties; when it comes to just giving you access to online multiplayer, it's PS Plus going forward.

So basically the subscription is replacing online passes. They just have to get their pound of flesh

So basically the subscription is replacing online passes. They just have to get their pound of flesh

I'm seriously disappointed in Sony here.

Why ? Better then have both at the same time. And still some of the online features are not behind a paywall like Netflix and F2P mmo´s. This is okay and not so restricted what MS does. Sure we all want everything for free but if you see what Sony wants to do with the PS4 online with all that instant share, streams and cloud saving you have to reduce the cost somehow. What would be the better solution ? Bump up the price of retail games to 80$ ? That would be even worse imo.

Why ? Better then have both at the same time. And still some of the online features are not behind a paywall like Netflix and F2P mmo´s. This is okay and not so restricted what MS does. Sure we all want everything for free but if you see what Sony wants to do with the PS4 online with all that instant share, streams and cloud saving you have to reduce the cost somehow. What would be the better solution ? Bump up the price of retail games to 80$ ? That would be even worse imo.

Exactly, there is so much more to the PSN than playing games online, especially with the PS4 where you have sharing and streaming of gameplay, cloud stuff, and also Gaikai stuff. All that cost a ton of money and so does multiplayer. People are acting like Sony is ripping them off or is doing something against our rights, it's just so ridiculous. Oh and subscription isn't replacing online passes. Publishers still had online passes for the Xbox which you obviously have to pay to play online. Online passes are a way for publishers to try and get back some of that used game money, it has nothing to do with the fact that PSN was free on the PS3.

Why ? Better then have both at the same time. And still some of the online features are not behind a paywall like Netflix and F2P mmo´s. This is okay and not so restricted what MS does. Sure we all want everything for free but if you see what Sony wants to do with the PS4 online with all that instant share, streams and cloud saving you have to reduce the cost somehow. What would be the better solution ? Bump up the price of retail games to 80$ ? That would be even worse imo.

Stop talking as if this is necessary. It's not. No 'solution' is needed. Games are already hugely profitable. Running an online infrastructure like PSN is not a huge financial drain. It already more than pays for itself - Sony get a cut of every game sold on the store.

Microsoft's biggest trick was to make people believe XBL gold was necessary for the ecosystem to exist. What nonsense. Steam has no subscription, Xfire has no subscription.

Finally, he was asked if players will need a PS Plus subscription to play MMORPGs like Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and The Elder Scrolls Online:

You will need it to enjoy online multiplayer.
This will also depend on the judgement by the publishers, and there will be some free to play titles that you’ll be able to play without needing a PS Plus subscription, like PlanetSide 2 and DC Universe Online.

That's $#@!ing awesome! F2P is still F2P on PS4. I hope that includes DUST 514 and Warframe too.

That's $#@!ing awesome! F2P is still F2P on PS4. I hope that includes DUST 514 and Warframe too.

lol, slow down turbo...Planetside 2 and DCUO are SOE titles so they may be making an exception for those.
We shall see. I'm not a fan of multiplayer pay wall...but on the other hand I'm already a PS+ member and love the extras (so does my son )

lol, slow down turbo...Planetside 2 and DCUO are SOE titles so they may be making an exception for those.
We shall see. I'm not a fan of multiplayer pay wall...but on the other hand I'm already a PS+ member and love the extras (so does my son )

CCP publishes DUST 514 and I'd wager on them keeping it infront of the paywall. He said it's upto the publisher's discretion but I dare say others will follow this. I mean, all that matters for a F2P game is the micro transactions, so if they can be made without PS+, keeps the game in the freely accessible space it's supposed to be in.

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